Washington Post admits error in Virginia gubernatorial race reporting

The Washington Post admitted Friday to an error in its reporting on the Virginia gubernatorial race that gave Terry McAuliffe an unfair bit of momentum.

The Post reported Wednesday that a new Quinnipiac University poll showed that 39 percent of likely Virginia voters identify as Democrats, while only 32 percent identify as Republicans — the same breakdown that exit polling showed after the 2012 election. The Post even cited these figures in a separate story headlined, “Why Terry McAuliffe is winning the Virginia governor’s race.”

But the Quinnipiac poll actually shows that only 30 percent of likely voters identify as Democrats, 23 percent as Republicans, and 39 percent as independents.

“When contacted by Watchdog.org, The Washington Post acknowledged its error and said it would correct the story,” according to Watchdog.org, which caught the Post’s error.

The Post has yet to correct the story. The office of the Post’s reader representative did not immediately return a request for comment.